Page 25 of The Voices are Back

AODHAN

“What are you over there smiling about?” I asked, tapping my fingers against the wheel as I navigated myself out of the inlet.

The inlet was tough. People that weren’t used to navigating it every day tended to want a pilot to guide them out. A pilot would board the boat, drive them out into calm waters, then disembark for another boat.

A good friend, Cassius, did that for a living. Funny enough, we’d never run into each other much despite us living in the same area and being in the same waters.

However, the area that I navigated out and the area he navigated out were two different areas, and mine was far less dangerous than his was.

He’d grown up and lived in Blue Ridge, while I’d grown up and lived in Accident, thirty minutes away.

“I’m smiling because you still do that tapping thing.” She pointed to my fingers that were still tapping away at the steering wheel. “I know you’ll stop right about…”

I stopped the moment we made it past the point of jagged rocks that jutted out.

“Now.” She smiled, finally finishing her sentence.

I winked at her and started navigating us toward the biggest fishing hole that I had, but would also be within an hour of land in case our guest didn’t want to be out here as long as he’d originally said.

The time passed in companionable silence until she blurted, “Where’s your first mate?”

My first mate was actually a twenty-five-year-old woman.

“Cassidy is at a doctor’s appointment in Sarasota,” I explained. “Her grandfather has cancer, and she takes him to his appointments. Most of the time, it’s scheduled on a day that I usually don’t work. But there was something that happened with his medication or something, and they had to go in sooner.”

She bumped me with her shoulder. “A girl as a first mate?”

I grinned. “It’s my boss’s daughter. Otherwise, I hate to say it, she wouldn’t be my first choice.”

She looked at me curiously as she said, “Why’s that? You don’t think she can do as good of a job?”

“I think that she doesn’t really want to do as good of a job,” I corrected. “I think Cassidy has a passion for fishing, but that doesn’t extend to her fueling someone else’s passion for fishing.”

“That’s understandable,” Morrigan nodded as if that made complete sense. “I like to shop, but I certainly don’t want to do it for a living.”

I flashed her a grin, then pulled up my mapping system, because I knew we were getting close.

After finding our spot, I went down to the bottom deck and talked with our guest.

After assuring us that he was just enjoying the views at the front of the boat, and would like to be left alone, I took us to the back and started getting our poles set up.

Surprisingly, Morrigan didn’t forget a single thing, and helped me get set up. Only when everything was ready did I go back and get us back into our spot thanks to the waves pushing us off of it.

When I came back, Morrigan already had her hook baited and the line heading down into the water.

I watched from the doorway, frozen in action, and wondered how I’d let this go.

Danyetta hated fishing. As in, the very last thing she ever wanted to do was get onto a boat and head offshore to fish.

Meanwhile, there Morrigan was, not only agreeing with me, but getting her own pole out into the water before I’d even had time to set her up.

The sun glinted off her hair, and I cursed before heading back inside the cabin to grab the hat that I’d told her about. The same one that she’d worn all those years ago.

Coming back out, I placed it on her head, and she turned to me with a huge-ass smile on her face.

It was one of those core memories that would become ingrained in my head, and would never be forgotten. The feeling in my chest tightened, and I touched the tip of her nose with my finger before asking, “Let me know if you need a chair, okay?”

She shot me a wink. “I can usually feel it coming on. If I feel it, I’ll have a seat right there.”

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